Restoration Run Half Marathon, 10K, 5K & 1K

The final running event in a series of road races known as the “Miles of Smiles” Race Series, made up mostly of 5K races that take place from June through August around the Iowa Falls area, Hampton’s Beeds Lake Restoration Run Half Marathon, 10K & 5K takes runners on a route that finishes at Beeds Lake State Park, just to the northwest of town.

Organized by the Friends of Beeds Lake — a locally-based nonprofit devoted to improving the water quality and protecting the enviroment of Beeds Lake State Park, which is perhaps best known for its dam that was built back in the 1930s by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps and often appears in photographs of this part of the Midwest — the race starts just south of nearby Latimer, next to Coulter City Park.

From there, runners head north through the tiny town of Coulter along Gull Avenue until they reach the Rolling Prairie Trail, part of a planned 80-mile-long trail system through central Iowa built on top of the old Iowa-Pacific Railroad Company, which dates back to 1871.

After turning right onto the trail, which unfolds through Iowa’s rolling prairie countryside, runners spend roughly the next seven miles on a very gradual downhill stretch.

Just after passing the mid-way point of the half marathon, runners turn off the Rolling Prairie Trail at Nettle Avenue. There, they make a left and head north in the direction of Beeds Lake State Park and the Beeds Lake Airport, which lies just south of the park.

The course takes them north all the way to 165th Street, where they turn right and head onto Lake Drive, which brings them around the eastern end of the lake.

The final three-mile stretch of the race forms a loop around the eastern end of the lake, along Lake Drive, Olive Avenue and 170th Street, until runners reach the entrance to the park and turn left.

Here, they turn into the northern side of the park on Beeds Lake Drive, and make their way along the lakeside roads through the trees before turning onto the causeway that crosses the lake, where they’ll cross the finish line overlooking the lake.

Race Weather & Climate

Located in central northern Iowa, about 50 miles south of the state’s border with Minnesota and just over 95 miles north of Des Moines along Interstate 35, Hampton typically sees August temperatures that average between 59°F and 81°F, while rainfall totals average just over 4.3 inches for the month.

On the day of the race (Aug. 26), the average low is 57°F and the average high is 79°F.